Davidson Chinchillas - Specialising in Charcoal Chinchillas

Bummble

Bummble is a rescued TOV ebony chin. She is approximately 9 years old and her previous owner, sadly, did not know how to treat her bumblefoot.

 She was rescued by Donna ( Chinchillas4Life ) and immediately given pressure relief with towels and hammocks. Bummble was put on antibiotics and her feet creamed to soften some of the extensive scabbing.

 Bummble came to live at the Manor in May 2005. She was commenced on intensive wound care with the hope that we could encourage the scabs to come off and the tissue underneath to heal (at least partially).

 It does not appear that Bummble has such extensive or deep-seated ulceration as Kiera - she does not require pain relief and no longer shifts from foot to foot as she did before treatment was commenced.

 This photo shows the extent of the scabbing on one of Bummble's feet when she was initially rescued - the other foot had a similar build up of eschar (scabbing). Both feet were hot, red, swollen, and occasionally exuded pus from beneath the scabs.

Once Bummble arrived at the Manor intensive wound management was initiated. Early treatment by Donna had softened some of the eschar which allowed further treatment to be attempted.

Dermisol cream was applied to Bummble's feet, sterile gauze placed over the top to keep the cream in place, and light bandaging applied. This was carried out daily for 1 week and resulted in the removal of almost all of the eschar from the ulcers.

Bummble's trendy bandages

After the initial week of daily treatment, Bummble has gone on to weekly treatment with a self adhesive foam dressing and light bandaging. This allows the wounds to remain moist, provides additional pressure relief, and aids the optimum environment for wound healing.

Bummble is such a good "patient" that she rarely bothers with her bandages and if she does remove them she then leaves the foam dressing in place.

It is hoped that, with continued treatment, Bummble's feet will heal eventually. It will require some time to undo all the damage which occurred but this treatment regime had made a huge difference to both Bummble's quality of life and the ulcers themselves.